[1] Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, [2] "Who is this who
darkens counsel By words without knowledge? [3] Brace yourself like a
man, For I will question you, then you answer me! [4] "Where were you
when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have
understanding. [5] Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or
who stretched the line on it? [6] Whereupon were the foundations of it
fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, [7] When the morning stars sang
together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? [8] "Or who shut up
the sea with doors, When it broke forth from the womb, [9] When I made
clouds the garment of it, Thick darkness a swaddling-band for it, [10]
Marked out for it my bound, Set bars and doors, [11] And said, `Here you
may come, but no further; Here shall your proud waves be stayed?` [12]
"Have you commanded the morning in your days, And caused the dawn to
know its place; [13] That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And shake the wicked out of it? [14] It is changed as clay under the seal,
And stands forth as a garment. [15] From the wicked, their light is
withheld, The high arm is broken. [16] "Have you entered into the
springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? [17]
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates
of the shadow of death? [18] Have you comprehended the earth in its
breadth? Declare, if you know it all. [19] "What is the way to the
dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is the place of it, [20] That
you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths
to the house of it? [21] Surely you know, for you were born then, And
the number of your days is great! [22] Have you entered the treasuries of
the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, [23] Which I have
reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?
[24] By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind
scattered on the earth? [25] Who has cut a channel for the flood water,
Or the path for the thunderstorm; [26] To cause it to rain on a land where
no man is; On the wilderness, in which there is no man; [27] To satisfy
the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring
forth? [28] Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of
dew? [29] Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who
has given birth to it? [30] The waters become hard like stone, When the
surface of the deep is frozen. [31] "Can you bind the cluster of the
Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion? [32] Can you lead forth the
constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?
[33] Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion
of it over the earth? [34] "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
That abundance of waters may cover you? [35] Can you send forth lightnings,
that they may go? Do they report to you, `Here we are?` [36] Who has put
wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?
[37] Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the
bottles of the sky, [38] When the dust runs into a mass, And the clods
of earth stick together? [39] "Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or
satisfy the appetite of the young lions, [40] When they crouch in their
dens, And lie in wait in the thicket? [41] Who provides for the raven
his prey, When his young ones cry to God, And wander for lack of
food?
